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Vince Masuka
Vincent "Vince" Masuka (aka Vince Masuoka in the novels) is a main character in DEXTER and operates as the general comic relief for the show. He is the lead forensics specialist for the Miami Metro Police Department, working alongside Dexter Morgan as his partner. Season Two saw Masuka as the Lead Forensic Investigator (LFI) during the Bay Harbor Butcher Investigation and Season Six onward shows that he volunteers at a local college as a professor in forensic studies. Due to this, he took in several interns including Ryan Chambers and the mysterious Louis Greene. Masuka can be seen as the comic relief of the show, with his role in the overall plot meant to typically add perverse jokes and make serious situations more light-hearted (he's the one that usually makes some sort of humorous comment regarding the way victims are found in the series). While some of the characters are revolted by his comments, they are also welcoming as a situation in Season Three caused Masuka to change his personality significantly after being insulted due to his belief that no one respected him. Vince started out as somewhat of a minor character but has become a far more important person in Homicide, offering constructive insight with his own perverse style and has assisted the department with crucial information in cases. He has also unknowingly assisted Dexter Morgan on a few crime scenes by creating a complex sexual motif out of some bodies that may have been left behind yet it is believable to the rest of Homicide and thus prevents Dexter from being put under suspicion. Appearance Vince is a man of Vietnamese descent who is almost always wearing glasses. He tends to have two main facial expressions: A serious face with a thoughtful frown and drawn-together eyebrows, and a somewhat perverted wide grin which is usually accompanied by a knowing, hilarious laugh. He is clean-shaven, including his head, though for part of the first season, he sported a shaved hair cut, rather than a bald one. Based on a comment by Dexter Morgan in the first episode, it is suggested that Masuka chooses to shave his head rather than let his hair grow to a longer length. His build is somewhat muscular, underneath his shirt he has a tattoo of an unfinished naked dragon woman that runs from the middle of his back, and down his hip somewhat. A small portion can be seen just above his waistline on the front of his body, beneath his stomach, suggesting that the tattoo goes further down. Though he does have a little belly, he seems to be in good enough shape. The rest of his body remains unseen but can be assumed to fit the upper body's physical structure. His typical attire consists of button up shirts, sometimes patterned with designs or plain with flannel patterns. On one occasion, he wore a full suit and tie in an attempt to be serious and distant himself from his co-workers, but he soon reverted to his comical ways in pure Masuka style after he spoke his mind to his colleagues about how he was feeling about his perceived treatment by them. Personality Masuka often makes remarks that are sexual in nature, commenting of fetishes, porn, hookers and other topics related to sex. He often hits on Debra Morgan with remarks that could be construed as sexual harassment, although this could be because she is the only female officer who is not his direct superior. For her part, Debra is the only person who seems willing to trade insults with Masuka, and both are shown to occasionally enjoy the banter. Vince seems to be a fairly competent forensics specialist and has turned up several leads that have helped the unit. He also has an extensive knowledge of sexual fetishes, which proved useful during the Ice Truck Killer case. Although the detectives appreciate his abilities, they are often annoyed at his comments. Doakes has warned Masuka "not to test me", and Lundy has even stopped consulting him because he was tired of the jokes. For his part, Vince takes pride in his abilities, and is overjoyed when his skills are recognized such as when he was published in a journal or when he was named Lead Forensic Investigator (or "LFI" as he put it) of the Bay Harbor Butcher case. Although Masuka is Vietnamese, he often makes comments that suggest he feels a connection to all Asians. He remarks that Dexter is throwing off his "chi", hates Albert Chung for making Asians look bad and has erected shrines that are not typical of Japanese religion. When questioned on these actions he often replies with confusion, indicating that he doesn't know or care about the differences between the religions and ethnicities of Asia. Although Masuka seems to have fairly thick skin, he becomes extremely hurt when the other members of the unit insult him or disregard his work. Dexter's Description From the Novels :"Sitting on an overturned plastic milk carton on the far end of the Dumpster, poking through a handful of waste matter, was Vince Masuoka. He was half Japanese and liked to joke that he got the short half. He called it a joke, anyway."''Chapter 2, Pages 26 and 27 from Darkly Dreaming Dexter (mass produced compact version) by Jeff Lindsay :"There was something just slightly off in Vince's bright, Asian smile. Like he had learned to smile from a picture book. Even when he made the required dirty put-down jokes with the cops, nobody got mad at him. Nobody laughed, either, but that didn't stop him. He kept making all the correct ritual gestures, but he always seemed to be faking. That's why I liked him, I think. Another guy pretending to be human, just like me."Chapter 2, Page 27 from Darkly Dreaming Dexter (massproduced compact version) by Jeff Lindsay History Plot Season One Much to Dexter's dismay Masuka finds a needle mark on one of Dexter's victims in the episode, Return to Sender. In the episode Seeing Red, Masuka finds the sheer amount of blood in the hotel room to amazing and constantly asks Dexter to join in. The one time Masuka does not crack a joke is when they are all at the crime scene where Angel has been stabbed. Season Two Masuka is promoted to LFI, Lead Forensic Investigator, of the Bay Harbor Butcher case, something he constantly brings up. Masuka makes a big break in the 'Butcher' case. Inside of the bags of bodies he finds rocks which have algae growing on them. This leads to tests which narrow down the three marinas where the killer, Dexter, keeps his boat. Although he made this find, Lundy finds his personality annoying and chooses to work with Dexter more. Season Three Masuka gets his article on the Bay Harbor Butcher published in a prominent forensics magazine, he exudes confidence and starts handing out copies to everyone at the station, not even paying attention to the fact that almost no one is reading them, not getting offended until he finds his article in Detective Joey Quinn's trashcan with gum stuck to it. When he is invited to make a speech relating to his article, Masuka tries to give tickets to everyone at the office, but everyone, save for Dexter, turns them down with half baked excuses. He makes a further effort to entice people to take the tickets by offering with them a complimentary doughnut, but people appear more interested by the prospect of eating his doughnuts than supporting him by attending his key note address at a forensics conference. Even Dexter, initially showing feigned interest and taking a ticket, ultimately does not turn up. Masuka feels greatly insulted by the fact that not a single person from his precinct showed up to his speech, and when he reaches out to Joey Quinn to find out why he is disrespected, he is met with an attack on his habits and personality, saying that Masuka is "the vilest person that he'd ever met." After Quinn comments that Masuka's constant crude jokes are the reason he is unpopular amongst his colleagues, he attempts to 'reform' his character. He is later seen wearing an uncharacteristic suit and tie instead of his usual Hawaiian shirts, and disregards several opportunities to comment on unintentional innuendos made but others. Debra becomes concerned at Masuka's seeming loss of sense of humor and it's at this moment that Masuka reveals how hurt he is that people don't seem to like him, declaring "The only time you people even acknowledge me is when you want something... You guys just don't get it. You hurt my feelings". This revealed a more emotionally sensitive side to the character who, up until that point, was comparatively two-dimensional. After a subtle vote of confidence from Debra Morgan and Angel Batista seems to aid his wounded self-esteem, he returns to his usual self with the line "Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14-inch-strap-on", to which a pleased Debra Morgan responds "And he's back". This small display of appreciation from Masuka's colleagues suggests that, although he is often an irritation to people surrounding him, at least some of his colleagues are fond of him. Season Four Masuka is placed in an awkward position when he accidentally witnesses Rita and Elliott, the neighbor, kissing on Thanksgiving. Masuka tells Dexter of the kiss, but by the time Dexter had time to listen, he had already found out. Season Five Masuka is on-scene with everyone else at Rita's house after she was murdered. He told everyone that he had pictured her naked many times, but never like this...going on to describe her cause of death to Quinn and the rest. Vince later expresses concern about his knowledge regarding Elliott and Rita's little mini-fling to Joey Quinn, which assists Quinn in pursuing his theory about Dexter. He wishes he never told Dexter about it (even though Dexter already knew), having some suspicion of him at first but he later drops this feeling. He is one of many to later attend Rita's funeral, standing quiet while everyone else expresses their feelings. As the season goes on, Masuka is forced into Dexter's job as Blood Spatter Pattern Analyst and absolutely hates it. He's not a fan of blood in the first place...especially when he's forced into the lab to test weapons on dummies. Every crime scene he arrives on is doubled up with commentary of how he wishes he could be somewhere else (but cruder, in Masuka style)...even having a piece of brain matter fall on his shoulder that aggravates him. Masuka's later given a prime role in actually securing Dexter's safety after a screw up with Lance Robinson and Dan Mendell, calling the experience "Autoerotic Mummification" and thus closes the case on both Mendell and Robinson. Vince still has an active role with comical commentary while everyone else focuses on the drama. Season Six In season six Masuka hires an intern. When the possible candidates come station to check the position out, one of them stands out the most. This one candidate is a good-looking female, who everyone is sure will get the internship, so when Masuka chooses a different person, everyone is quite surprised. The first intern wasn't capable to handle the blood though, so the good-looking blonde gets the job. Masuka, the pervert he is, of course checks her out all day long. After a while he finally asks her out and to his surprise she says yes. It seems like she is the perfect intern, but after Masuka finds out she stole the prosthetic hand from the ice-truck murders, so he fires her and Intern number three is hired. Quotes Vince Masuka is primarily the comical relief in the series, as such many of his quotes relate to his sexually perverse nature and typically involve hitting on a woman. In addition to his perverse attitude, he also often quotes his race (though covers all Asians) in his jokes. *''Ehehehehehe - Vince's trademark laugh, usually followed by a perverted remark. *''Saw your sister. Damn, looking hot!'' - Vince Yeah she should, it's hot as hell out here. - Dexter, this is both Vince's first appearance in the story and his first hint at his attraction to Debra Morgan.Episode 101: Dexter, upon entering the pool where the first Ice Truck Killer victim is found *''Watching ice melt, this is fun'' - Deb Stand a little closer Morgan and I'll melt your heart - Vince I think he's got a crush on you Dex - Angel Huh? - Dexter Yo! I was talking to Morgan the Sister. Vince Masuka only swings one way - Vince Yeah, from vine to vine - DebEpisode 102: Crocodile, melting ice around fingertips left by ITK Trivia * Vince watches Project Runway. Lost Boys * C.S. Lee, who portrays Masuka, is in fact of South Korean descent. * Asian culture mix ups are joked about by Masuka on the show on numerous occasions, the first being in Episode 106 "Return to Sender" when Masuka tells Dexter he is messing up his "chi." Dexter says "You're not Chinese" to which Masuka replies "I'm not?" * C.S. Lee has guest-starred on the USA television series MONK along with several background actors in the DEXTER series, such as the actors for Michael Soderquist and Detective Hill. References es:Vincent "Vince" Masuka Category:Characters Category:Main characters Category:Season 1 characters Category:Season 2 characters Category:Season 3 characters Category:Season 4 characters Category:Season 5 characters Category:Season 6 characters Category:Characters from the dexter book series Category:Characters present at Dexter's wedding Category:Miami Metro Police Department Category:Miami Metro Homicide Department Category:Forensics Category:Frank Lundy's Task Force Category:Season 7 characters Category:Characters seen in Dexter's Illusions Category:Updated Info Needed Category:Season 8 characters